Marshall University Journalism Professor Says NRA Members Should be Killed by Firing Squad

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Wow. OK. So a Marshall University Professor of journalism, Christopher Swindell, has written an editorial at WVGazette.com in which he, at one point in the article, says that NRA members are guilty of treason and should be killed by firing squad.

Swindell make numerous asinine remarks throughout the article, so let’s look at a few of those shall we?

First off, the quote in question (and don’t worry we grabbed screenshots and copies in case he removes his death threats),

Here it is. The NRA advocates armed rebellion against the duly elected government of the United States of America. That’s treason, and it’s worthy of the firing squad.

Second Amendment supporters often point out that one of the original purposes of the Second Amendment is to allow the people to protect themselves from a tyrannical government. I have not heard anyone say we are at a point in history where armed rebellion is warranted. On the contrary, the recent Heller Supreme Court case, the Illinois Concealed Carry Federal Court case, and the recent defeat of all new federal gun control measures show that our government is still working for the people at least on some small level. There is a huge difference in saying we need to be able to defend against a future tyrannical government, which may or may not happen, and calling for an armed rebellion in the next few days. In fact, it could be argued that Second Amendment supporters want to be able to defend against a tyrannical government in order to MAINTAIN peace. As far as I know, no government in history has ever oppressed a well armed populace. So this statement is basically a lie and then a call for mass execution. Classy.

I am not a New York gun control liberal, either. I support a shotgun for home defense, a handgun for limited conceal/carry, and an assortment of hunting rifles to balance West Virginia’s exploding deer population (as evidenced by hourly collisions with cars). So, I am hardly out of the mainstream.

This is becoming the standard battle cry of anti gun advocates. “Listen guys, I’m all for you having guns BUT, we’re gonna need you to jump through more hoops even though you’re a law abiding citizen and we’re also going to need you to not own certain kinds of weapons. OK? Yeah, thanks.”

The Second Amendment says nothing about hunting, nothing about limited concealed carry, and nothing about using shotguns for home defense.

Christopher Swindell is a journalism professor at Marshall University in WV according to numerous online resources (see sources at end of paragraph). Users on Facebook have been questioning the University on their Facebook page over Swindell’s comments. Swindell points out in his byline on the editorial that he is a journalism professor. While Swindell does not mention Marshall University in his piece, he does mention that he lives in WV and that he is a journalism professor. Those pieces of information point to numerous online resources showing that this Christopher Swindell is in fact the same one who is an instructor working at Marshall. (Source, Source, Source) Two comments from 2006 and 2007 on Rate My Professor, a popular website where students can anonymously and publicly give feedback on their professors, both describe Swindell as being a communist. It is impossible to know if those comments were in sarcasm or if Mr. Swindell actually subscribes to communist ideologies. Several students also complained about political ranting.

With journalism professors like this training the next generation of journalists it’s easy to see why journalists are usually not very well informed on Second Amendment/gun issues.